Stars, Avs Open NHL Season

Ed Belfour and Patrick Roy were even on this night.

"Both goaltenders were good and they had to be. They were also lucky at times," Dallas coach Ken Hitchcock said after the Stars and Colorado Avalanche played to a 2-2 tie Wednesday night.

The penalty-filled season opener matched the league's best goalies and the teams that played in the last two Western Conference finals.

Belfour stopped 26 Colorado shots while Roy, who remains four wins shy of breaking the NHL record for career victories, had 19 saves. Dallas had four other shots hit the goalposts.

"Both made some great saves. You can't ask any more of those guys," said Mike Modano, who had a goal and an assist for the Stars.

While the goalies stood out, neither team was able to take advantage of numerous power-play opportunities. The Avs were 1-for-10 on the power play and Dallas was 1-for-9.

There were 21 penalties, 11 against Dallas, in a game that underscored the league's commitment to call the game more closely.

Penalties that carried over from the third period into overtime, kept the teams away from the 4-on-4 extra-session format until there was only 2:54 remaining.

Dallas won both of the Western finals in seven games, including a series-deciding 3-2 victory on the same ice four months ago.

Colorado outshot Dallas 8-7 in the third period, including Alex Tanguay's breakaway that was deflected by Belfour witabout three minutes to go. In the final minute, Milan Hejduk had an opening on Belfour's left side, but couldn't get the puck in.

Dallas had a 3-2 shot advantage in overtime.

Even though the Stars began the third period with a two-man advantage the first 1:20, they couldn't capitalize. They only got off one shot, when Darryl Sydor moved across the middle only to have his close-range shot deflected by Roy.

Colorado tied it at 2 on Adam Deadmarsh's power-play goal 18:31 into the second period. Deadmarsh took a centering pass from Chris Drury and pushed it inside the right post over Belfour's glove.

Just over a minute later, the Stars had their two-man advantage. Shjon Podein was called for charging after shoving Mike Modano, after the Dallas center's shot missed 29 seconds into a power play.

Roy never had a chance on the first goal, having been screened by a teammate on Sergei Zubov's shot 12:40 in.

The Stars converted while enjoying a two-man advantage at the end of the first period, when Modano's slap shot hit the net just as the final horn sounded. It wasn't 2-0 until the goal was confirmed by a replay official.

Podein's hard shot just a minute into the second period was deflected by Belfour, but a minute later Podein scored on a centering pass from Stephane Yelle to make it 2-1.

It appeared Dallas had a 3-1 lead on Brett Hull's drive 2:53 into the second period, less than a minute after Colorado's first score, but the shot bounded off the left post. The crowd began cheering and the horn went off, but play continued. A replay confirmed that the puck did not go in.

The post shots were fitting, considering that Colorado battled back from a three-goal deficit after two periods in Game 7 last June. The Avalanche were down just 3-2 when Ray Bourque's shot got past Belfour, but rattled off the right post.

Notes